Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!
With all the new crazy self-appointed Chief Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, Pharisees, legalists, and outright liars leading various Churches of God today, it is important to hold these agents of deception accountable.
Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders
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Monday, June 10, 2024
Did WCG/Armstrongism/COG Destroy Your Marriage and Family?
Boy did this church mess up a lot of families! Was your family ripped apart by their way of looking at marriage and divorce? It was all so wrong in so many ways and we're going to break this down.
There are an awful lot of ways to destroy a marriage in addition to false divorce and remarriage doctrines.
Start with the hook! (False prophecy). Young people get desperate, and rush into marriages figuring they could get along with almost anyone for 3-5 years. And then 3-5 turns into 30-50 and counting.
Most marriages encounter problems related to money. If you blew off your education due to "the end", and if the culture requires stay at home moms, good luck with the money thing, especially with the false interpretation of tithes.
Authoritarianism combined with anal retentive slavishnes to the law and doctrines is going to make the family into a nonempathetic little bubble where there is very little nurture, and nearly zero attention to children's emotional needs or sense of security. It becomes a my way or the highway place, in which a child feels expendable. Wanna know the kicker? You get your concept of your spiritual parent (Father God) as a function of your concept of your physical parents!
I really did not know how a successful family functioned until I was hired into a family business owned and operated by a devout Catholic family. It was quite amazing, actually, and that, coupled with some good professional therapy, really helped make some huge differences in my life. It did not mark the end to all of the warpings caused by Armstrongism but it gave back some much needed positives. You never recover fully from Armstrongism, but life can at least be tolerable.
Anonymous said > .especially with the false interpretation of tithes ..devout Catholic family. It was quite amazing, actually, and that, coupled with some good professional therapy, really helped make some huge differences in my life
Pleased to hear you've made progress in overcoming the effects of the false teachings of Armstrong. The false apostle taught not tithing was stealing from God when in fact like his other teachings the truth is better known by turning his theology around 180 degrees
I can honestly say, it really caused chaos in my parent's marriage and my siblings lives. Later, after David Robinson's book came out and my dad personally knowing someone who was present in California during the state's law suit against Worldwide and told him personally that the leadership of the church were hiding misuse of funds and 99% of what the state of California was alleging was true, he mellowed and starting being the Father I knew prior to his joining Worldwide. But I knew many friends who went thru hell. One deacon was an abusive alcoholic who often caused his daughter's to show up with dark purple bruises that they had to hide when attending services. HWA and too many of the ministry were a destroyer of lives, faith and marriages.
It was good things improved for you. When one weighs up the deeds of the Armstrong cult which they called the one true church , I’m convinced the evil and bad and the ungodly and the destructive outweighs the good by a factor of 99 to 1.
When it comes to tithing and stealing, Malachi 3 refers to the priests of the day, and by extension perhaps to the church ministry. God is saying that the priests of the day were stealing the tithes, tithes that were meant for the widows and orphans. Today church ministers steal the tithes to spend on themselves, to give themselves big houses, big cars, nice clothes, etc., while the poor member pays over 10% or more of his earnings to fund that. Instead, a church can take in donations, and use that money to cover basic expenses and use it to help those in the church who are poor. Nowhere does God actually say that a non-tithepayer is stealing anything. And, as tithing in the Bible is only on agricultural produce, never on money, and was given to the Levites, there should be no tithing in the Church, according to the Bible.
It ruined my life. It enabled my parents to abuse and neglect all of their children. There are not enough words nor enough hours for me to describe how this awful organization and the evil people who ran it destroyed my future from the moment I came out of the womb.
Never give up 9:09. Yes they did ruin the years during which we stayed in the church, and there are many people who can't understand how they firebombed our futures. Recovery requires much work, and as I've found, quite a bit of reading. We'll never get to the point of being as if Armstrongism never happened, but we can always make things a little better.
How do you move a mountain? One shovel full at a time!
Observant Jews dont keep Xmas, Easter, or eat pork, and observe the Holy Days.
Those things by themselves, are not necessarily TOXIC. What was toxic in Armstrongism was the SOCIOLOGY.
The top down authoritarian structure, that viewed life as totally revolving around HWA and his "work". It was a type of police state , all in a quasi- North Korea kind of way. Complete with a snitch culture, spying, and control at all levels. There was no way to "bypass" the hierarchy chain, or to be on your own, you had to comply to the structure and could only advance by permission or it being granted to you. It was a kind of slavery.
Certainly the control of money flow is a big factor too. If you are not giving to the CORRECT place, you will not be in the resurrection, or will be in the Tribulation, or be cursed or whatever. You could only be "healed" by having the authorized ministerial anointing, and to go around that system by going to a Doctor was very oppressed.
No voting, no accountability to the peasants, interference in your personal family matters, and much more shows the SOCIOLOGY of a control cult.
I still keep the Seventh Day Sabbath, and the Holy Days , no pork etc. Im free of the sociology and control of the Armstrong WCG and its legacy churches. I enjoy the fellowship of those in the COG 7 , and lighter weight Christian Messianic groups, but am truly an independent of anyone.
And when the "top-down hierarchy" (God/Pasadena/ministry/us folk) suddenly came through Mr. Tkach Sr., ooh! No more top-down could possibly come through that pattern anymore, as it had previously been programmed into our head for so many years.
How was one to 2nd guess God for suddenly interrupting His personal pipeline which stahlwartly included "Pasadena" i.e. the man who HWA passes the actual baton to?
Armstrong published over many years the notion that Christmas is pagan and insisted that the holy days must be substituted.
From my readings I've come to the view there is no pagan origin to Christmas.Books such as by Hislop are discredited. I’ve read a fair number of articles about it all - , two examples being
The same applies to Easter it’s all part of the fake apostles propaganda to push the holydays which he said were required to be observed by believers and a sign of his being the one true church.
Christ's condemnation of the Pharisees was more about their hypocrisy and control tactics than the core teachings they were entrusted with (see Matthew 23:2-4, Romans 3:1-2).
Since they lacked true authority, integrity, sympathy, spirituality, and humility, they were guilty of exclusion, perversion, subversion, inversion, extortion, and pretension.
Observant Jews dont keep Xmas, Easter, or eat pork, and observe the Holy Days.>>>
Difficult to understand as Armstrong taught all including had to keep the days in order to be saved. Can understand if one is a messianic Jew believing in Jesus as Lord andcSaviour. The observance of days and foods is each persons decision but these Armstrong cults are complete frauds claiming to be one true churches like the parent worldwide/radio.
The Pride of Satan! People do not know who they worship or honor. If the world's being judged for their Hollywood type of life, what makes them think that they're getting away with it? Here they think they'll have a holy convocation while they're IN adulterous relationships. Woah to them! These sects are full of pride and arrogance! They are totally polluted! No integrity whatsoever!
There are an awful lot of ways to destroy a marriage in addition to false divorce and remarriage doctrines.
ReplyDeleteStart with the hook! (False prophecy). Young people get desperate, and rush into marriages figuring they could get along with almost anyone for 3-5 years. And then 3-5 turns into 30-50 and counting.
Most marriages encounter problems related to money. If you blew off your education due to "the end", and if the culture requires stay at home moms, good luck with the money thing, especially with the false interpretation of tithes.
Authoritarianism combined with anal retentive slavishnes to the law and doctrines is going to make the family into a nonempathetic little bubble where there is very little nurture, and nearly zero attention to children's emotional needs or sense of security. It becomes a my way or the highway place, in which a child feels expendable. Wanna know the kicker? You get your concept of your spiritual parent (Father God) as a function of your concept of your physical parents!
I really did not know how a successful family functioned until I was hired into a family business owned and operated by a devout Catholic family. It was quite amazing, actually, and that, coupled with some good professional therapy, really helped make some huge differences in my life. It did not mark the end to all of the warpings caused by Armstrongism but it gave back some much needed positives.
You never recover fully from Armstrongism, but life can at least be tolerable.
Anonymous said >
ReplyDelete.especially with the false interpretation of tithes ..devout Catholic family. It was quite amazing, actually, and that, coupled with some good professional therapy, really helped make some huge differences in my life
Pleased to hear you've made progress in overcoming the effects of the false teachings of Armstrong. The false apostle taught not tithing was stealing from God when in fact like his other teachings the truth is better known by turning his theology around 180 degrees
I can honestly say, it really caused chaos in my parent's marriage and my siblings lives. Later, after David Robinson's book came out and my dad personally knowing someone who was present in California during the state's law suit against Worldwide and told him personally that the leadership of the church were hiding misuse of funds and 99% of what the state of California was alleging was true, he mellowed and starting being the Father I knew prior to his joining Worldwide. But I knew many friends who went thru hell. One deacon was an abusive alcoholic who often caused his daughter's to show up with dark purple bruises that they had to hide when attending services. HWA and too many of the ministry were a destroyer of lives, faith and marriages.
ReplyDeleteIt was good things improved for you. When one weighs up the deeds of the Armstrong cult which they called the one true church , I’m convinced the evil and bad and the ungodly and the destructive outweighs the good by a factor of 99 to 1.
DeleteWhen it comes to tithing and stealing, Malachi 3 refers to the priests of the day, and by extension perhaps to the church ministry. God is saying that the priests of the day were stealing the tithes, tithes that were meant for the widows and orphans.
ReplyDeleteToday church ministers steal the tithes to spend on themselves, to give themselves big houses, big cars, nice clothes, etc., while the poor member pays over 10% or more of his earnings to fund that.
Instead, a church can take in donations, and use that money to cover basic expenses and use it to help those in the church who are poor.
Nowhere does God actually say that a non-tithepayer is stealing anything.
And, as tithing in the Bible is only on agricultural produce, never on money, and was given to the Levites, there should be no tithing in the Church, according to the Bible.
Fully agree with you
DeleteIt ruined my life. It enabled my parents to abuse and neglect all of their children. There are not enough words nor enough hours for me to describe how this awful organization and the evil people who ran it destroyed my future from the moment I came out of the womb.
ReplyDeleteNever give up 9:09. Yes they did ruin the years during which we stayed in the church, and there are many people who can't understand how they firebombed our futures. Recovery requires much work, and as I've found, quite a bit of reading. We'll never get to the point of being as if Armstrongism never happened, but we can always make things a little better.
DeleteHow do you move a mountain? One shovel full at a time!
Observant Jews dont keep Xmas, Easter, or eat pork, and observe the Holy Days.
ReplyDeleteThose things by themselves, are not necessarily TOXIC. What was toxic in Armstrongism was the SOCIOLOGY.
The top down authoritarian structure, that viewed life as totally revolving around HWA and his "work". It was a type of police state , all in a quasi- North Korea kind of way. Complete with a snitch culture, spying, and control at all levels. There was no way to "bypass" the hierarchy chain, or to be on your own, you had to comply to the structure and could only advance by permission or it being granted to you. It was a kind of slavery.
Certainly the control of money flow is a big factor too. If you are not giving to the CORRECT place, you will not be in the resurrection, or will be in the Tribulation, or be cursed or whatever. You could only be "healed" by having the authorized ministerial anointing, and to go around that system by going to a Doctor was very oppressed.
No voting, no accountability to the peasants, interference in your personal family matters, and much more shows the SOCIOLOGY of a control cult.
I still keep the Seventh Day Sabbath, and the Holy Days , no pork etc. Im free of the sociology and control of the Armstrong WCG and its legacy churches. I enjoy the fellowship of those in the COG 7 , and lighter weight Christian Messianic groups, but am truly an independent of anyone.
And when the "top-down hierarchy" (God/Pasadena/ministry/us folk) suddenly came through Mr. Tkach Sr., ooh! No more top-down could possibly come through that pattern anymore, as it had previously been programmed into our head for so many years.
ReplyDeleteHow was one to 2nd guess God for suddenly interrupting His personal pipeline which stahlwartly included "Pasadena" i.e. the man who HWA passes the actual baton to?
Eek, not Joseph Tkach Sr., no way José. Suddenly it was a free for all, time to scatter, off to your favorite preference of splinters hodge-podge. Time to sift through this presiding evangelist, & that pastor general, this apostle & that prophet all blurting forth, "hear ye, hear ye...I proclaim I am the one ye seek"!
And so goes splinterdom's spinning wheel o' fun swirling to this day.
But free for all? During HWA filling the Pasadena-pipeline-check valve spigot? No way again José, mustn't splinter off during that top-down-flow-line. Halt, wait...as soon as Mr. HWA passes away, in that day, one can then say, mayday mayday - Tkach has paved the way, for a tour on splinterdom highway.
And please no one tell us about "the great falling away" either.
DeleteHow many fallings-away can the great falling away fall-away with? Was it one fell swoop, or was it flock upon flock who flew the coop.
Armstrong published over many years the notion that Christmas is pagan and insisted that the holy days must be substituted.
ReplyDeleteFrom my readings I've come to the view there is no pagan origin to Christmas.Books such as by Hislop are discredited. I’ve read a fair number of articles about it all - , two examples being
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/did-romans-invent-christmas
https://unherd.com/2021/12/the-myth-of-pagan-christmas-2/
The same applies to Easter it’s all part of the fake apostles propaganda to push the holydays which he said were required to be observed by believers and a sign of his being the one true church.
What about Jesus' 1 sign He'd give, the sign of Jonah?
Deletedidn't that tally up to 3 days (& 3 nights)?
Was Eostre really satisfactory? What about the blood eggs now coloured by Paas?
Tonto, excellent comment. I'm in full agreement.
ReplyDeleteChrist's condemnation of the Pharisees was more about their hypocrisy and control tactics than the core teachings they were entrusted with (see Matthew 23:2-4, Romans 3:1-2).
Since they lacked true authority, integrity, sympathy, spirituality, and humility, they were guilty of exclusion, perversion, subversion, inversion, extortion, and pretension.
Sound familiar?
Well, it wasnt D&R that did it, but yes - it split my family apart in multiple ways.
ReplyDeleteYes. It separated us from our extended family and created tension between my parents. A terrible legacy.
ReplyDeleteObservant Jews dont keep Xmas, Easter, or eat pork, and observe the Holy Days.>>>
ReplyDeleteDifficult to understand as Armstrong taught all including had to keep the days in order to be saved. Can understand if one is a messianic Jew believing in Jesus as Lord andcSaviour.
The observance of days and foods is each persons decision but these Armstrong cults are complete frauds claiming to be one true churches like the parent worldwide/radio.
The Pride of Satan! People do not know who they worship or honor. If the world's being judged for their Hollywood type of life, what makes them think that they're getting away with it? Here they think they'll have a holy convocation while they're IN adulterous relationships. Woah to them! These sects are full of pride and arrogance! They are totally polluted! No integrity whatsoever!
ReplyDelete